“For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:17-18 ESV
Reflection: is the gospel you have received “free of charge”?
The church I grew up in had around 500 full members of the congregation but only a few paid positions which included the pastor, the janitor and missionaries the church had sent out to foreign countries. All the other positions in the church, like the elders, the choir and music leaders, the children and youth leaders, etc, were all voluntary. Those people had other jobs to make money, and they gave of their talent and spare time to the church. Even much of the maintenance and repairs were done as volunteer efforts, by the congregation. We had a beautiful building, well maintained, and a thriving ministry. Thinking back, I do not recall the church was lacking in any way. As we know, things have changed. Now many, if not most, are paid positions in many churches. We currently live next to a very popular church, which has 75+ paid positions, with fancy titles like “Executive Director”, “Senior Director”, and “Director”, and roles that include words like “Videographer” and “Production” etc, sounding more like this is a business, even show business.
In chapter 9, Paul gets into a lengthy discussion about his “right” as an apostle to be taken care of physically, to receive food and shelter from the congregation. He says that “the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9:14b ESV. But he also argues the point that he, Paul, wants to be free from the obligations that come from being paid, compensated for this work. He argues that, as a steward of the gospel, of which he considers himself, he is obligated to preach, because he has been entrusted the position by the Lord Jesus Christ. So what is the problem with mixing “money” in with doing the work of the Lord? Clearly, it can lead to the wrong motivation, wrong incentive. And, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that man is motivated by things of this world, by money, by titles, by prestige. Whether working for a business, a non profit, charity or even a church, people are the same.
Think for a moment about how much secular content has entered into many churches. Pastors and leaders become very careful about messaging in order not to lose their tax exemption benefits, as well as losing members’ donations. If they have a huge building, with a large, paid staff and they all have families and mortgages to pay for, they have to keep the business rolling, the production going. It can become a big dilemma of who are they actually serving. Paul did not want his allegiance to be split between serving Jesus and man. He intentionally wanted to be free of any obligation – so that he could speak freely and minister where and to whom he wanted.
Don’t get me wrong, people that choose to devote their lives in service to the Lord as a pastor or some other position in the church also need to provide for their families, obviously. But I do believe there is a huge trap here by our enemy, who is waiting to enslave well intentioned people, with the promises of this world. I think we see examples of that all around us. Maybe we should return to more part time volunteer work. We have all received the gift of salvation “free of charge” from our Lord Jesus, and should be very careful not making that into a business.